And The Darkness Was In Me
by Funky In Fishnet
Summary: Emma's heart is darkening but maybe it's always been that way, maybe she can see the benefits. Meeting Will's wife opens up so many possibilities.


_**Disclaimer:** I own nothing._

 _ **Author Note:** Set near the end of season three of 'Once Upon A Time', my version of what could have happened. Also post-'Once Upon A Time In Wonderland.' This fic continues ponderings on Ana/Will and Will/Belle and possibly an OT3. There's also background Emma/Killian and Regina/Robin.  
_

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 **AND THE DARKNESS WAS IN ME**

Emma's hands were raised, ready to fire. Something was happening up ahead, Will and Belle were walking together through the woodland that bordered Storybrooke so conveniently. There'd been a kind of magic detected in Storybrooke recently that Regina, after some complicated spellwork, had finally identified as Zelena's. She'd been adamant that they should check it out. So Emma, Regina and Killian (who'd refused to be left behind) were now following whatever spell Regina had concocted to zero in on Zelena's magic. It was also leading them to follow Will and Belle.

Emma's parents were watching Henry. Emma's heart twisted. She was still so angry with them, she wanted them to hurt for what they'd done and how they'd lied about it after. Regina had warned Emma that her heart would darken after her first kill. It should have been ironic; Regina warning Emma about a darkening heart.

"For all we know, we could be about to interrupt something that I really don't want to witness, do you?" hissed Killian from beside her.

Regina shot him an irritated look, "A dark forest for a tryst, why am I not surprised that's your first thought?"

"Anywhere can be romantic enough if you-."

Emma interrupted, "Look, Regina's spell is pointing us this way, it's where Will and Belle are heading, and I don't really believe in coincidences in Storybrooke, do you?"

Before anyone could answer, there was a sudden blinding burst of light up ahead, then...was that a rabbit, wearing clothes? Emma watched as the creature hopped forward before another figure, a human one, emerged from the portal that disappeared shortly afterward. Once Emma's eyes had recovered from the bright light, she could make out a beautiful blonde, dressed like she'd crash-landed out of the Enchanted Forest – fitted pants and a matching jacket over a white shirt that was laced up the front, her hair was fastened with jeweled clasps. Her expression was warm and so happy when she saw Will, throwing her arms around him. Wow, maybe Emma, Regina and Killian _were_ going to interrupt something.

The blonde greeted Belle like they were old friends, checking that she was okay.

"I'm okay, thank you, Ana," Belle replied, looking pleased to see their visitor too. "But we shouldn't keep taking you away from your kingdom."

"I'm needed here and Alice and the Tweedles are keeping an eye on everything. Now, I've heard from Ursula, she and the mermaids are keeping watch every night and passing word through all portals they can find. They're taking precautions and keeping records that won't get changed even if everything else does."

"But everything'll get rewritten if-."

"Some things won't."

Ana seemed firm, just who was she? She spoke with a British accent, had to be a magic-user of some kind, and Will and Belle clearly trusted her. But they'd kept her a secret and what was she planning? Emma needed to find out but it was Regina who whispered,

"I think it's time we knew more."

She gestured and magic flared up, heading for Ana who turned her head sharply and seemed to snatch Regina's magic out of the air, crushing it between her fingers. Will and Belle didn't look surprised but did seem taken aback by the fact that they weren't actually alone with Ana.

"Come out, whoever you are," Ana called, her tone taking on a dangerous edge, her hand raised.

"Well, we definitely got her attention," Emma muttered.

She pushed forward, Killian and Regina close behind her. Will threw his hands up when he saw her, "Great, the sheriff and her pirate, again. Haven't you got someone else to bother?"

"Bit hard to ignore that grand entrance, mate," Killian replied with sharp warning.

"And we were looking for her."

Regina looked towards Ana, curling a hand like she was grasping thin air, a colorful wisp of magic pointing directly towards Ana. Ana surveyed her haughtily; it was a look that Emma recognized - more magically-powered royalty. Well, Emma had successfully dealt with them before and she'd do it again. Storybrooke was her town to protect, no one was getting past her, no matter what.

She should have been surprised by how matter-of-fact she now felt about taking on magical fairytale characters, and doing whatever was necessary to keep her friends safe, her family too even if they had mostly lied to her recently. Emma hadn't ever had a problem taking down bounties in her old line of work; some of them had gotten pretty banged up. Maybe she'd always had the seed of this darkness inside of her; maybe it would ultimately help her keep Henry safe, it had done so far. It'd helped Regina for years and Gold, and Emma was dating a pirate battling his own darkness. Was she trying to justify this to herself? Should she worry more?

"The daughter of the Queen of Hearts, what a surprise."

Ana's words cut through Emma's thoughts. A range of emotions spilled across Regina's expression. Yeah, Emma knew that process intimately - the whole resenting-but-still-loving-your-mom thing. So Ana had known Cora, was it really such a small world or had the Author purposefully entangled their lives in such unbelievable knots?

"You knew my mother?"

Ana curled her own hand, her magic pointedly blossoming and then disappearing, "Who do you think taught me?

"My mother taught you magic?"

"So befitting a queen of Wonderland."

Wonderland. Emma added her own voice to the party, "So you're, what, the Queen of Diamonds?"

The jewels in her hair certainly pointed that way. Ana's smile was very amused though and Killian answered her, as though he'd just realized something.

"The Red Queen. Cora talked about you, once or twice."

Ana seemed pleased rather than surprised by that. "She was a good teacher, even if she didn't teach me how to unpick a curse."

A curse? Emma frowned, another non-coincidence, Storybrooke was practically a magnet for curses. "What curse?"

Ana's face was grim, "The one that brought my husband here."

There was a slight silence until Killian broke it, "I'm sorry, are you saying you're married to _him_?"

"Easy, mate."

"And I assume you're talking about the curse that brought the citizens of the Enchanted Forest to this world. That was me."

Regina didn't hesitate to out herself. Emma really didn't think that was going to help anyone. Ana's expression hardened and one delicate hand closed into a fist again. Regina had done a lot of terrible things but that one actually lay at the feet of Emma's parents, not much of a surprise now, and Emma wasn't going to let someone take the fall for them, again. They didn't deserve that generosity.

"It wasn't her call. My parents cast the curse and there wasn't time for finesse, consideration or a headcount."

It was all further proof of Snow White and Prince Charming's capacity for selfishly 'doing good' and wrecking other people's lives. Killian eyed her in a way that said he was concerned and wanted to talk to her about forgiving her parents again. Why bother when Emma's answer was only ever going to be the same.

"Much as I'd like you to punish a few people here, Ana, one of my best mates is actually in love with that one so you're gonna have to take it easy on her," Will nodded towards Regina.

Ana eyed Regina and didn't look inclined to show mercy. Killian was looking at Belle like he was concerned for her. The two of them had managed to form a weird post-Gold bond which made a strange kind of sense. Belle always seemed too lonely and isolated and this was better than when Killian had been willing to use and hurt her to hurt Gold. Storybrooke changed people.

"You knew about this, love?"

Belle looked surprised he'd asked, "Will's always talked about Ana, she went through a lot to find him."

Belle seemed genuine and Ana didn't seem resentful about her husband having a girlfriend while he'd been away from her. Maybe they'd already had that fight; maybe there was some kind of loopy arrangement going on that everyone was apparently happy with, maybe Belle was just hiding how much this hurt her. Of course there was the matter of how familiar Belle seemed with Ana; this clearly wasn't their first meeting, and what had they all been planning together?

"So the question is why are you putting on a light show when you could have just taken your thief and left?" Regina pointed out.

"That's a little difficult when the Dark One's trying to rewrite his story," Ana replied snappily. "He should know better, you pull one thread and everything unravels."

She sounded like she was talking from experience; the pained look on Will's face echoed that. What had they been through together? Why hadn't Ana been pulled through to Storybrooke via the curse like everyone else? She was obviously very powerful; she could help them deal with Gold. If he was stopped once and for all, then Storybrooke would be safe, Henry would be safe. Emma could make sure that Ana helped.

"Love."

Killian was touching her arm - a distinctly dark-tinted seam of magic was curling around her fists. Emma concentrated and the magic melted away. Everyone was looking at her, Emma shifted.

"Okay, so threads unraveling?" she said pointedly.

Belle looked concerned but picked up the conversation, "You change one thing, no matter how small, and everyone else's stories change too. Magic always has a price. So Ana and Rabbit are making sure as many worlds as possible know about Rumple and Zelena's plans, because there could be legends or solutions out there that could help us."

"And as the Dark One has a very obvious weakness, I thought I might 'kidnap' his love and take her all the way to Wonderland," added Ana.

"And the Crocodile will be distracted from his mission," concluded Killian. "But he'll tear apart more than one world to find her."

Ana's smile was extremely self-satisfied, "Ah but whose magic did you _think_ you'd sensed tonight?"

Emma could see the same thought register with Killian and Regina that had just registered with her - Zelena. If Regina could be fooled, then maybe Gold could be too and if Gold and Zelena were consumed with destroying each other, maybe Regina could grab Robin and Roland and get them to safety. It was a risky strategy but Regina looked very interested, of course she did. She'd get her True Love back and bloody revenge on her bitch of a sister. Emma could really see the appeal. She'd be happy to help.

While Regina and Ana began a conference about magic signatures, Belle talked quietly to Will and Killian, "We don't know exactly how the Author's magic works yet."

Right, but that didn't matter, what mattered was how the Author used it - to change stories so that they were 'better' in his mind. Clearly that was why the page featuring Regina and Robin actually meeting in the Enchanted Forest had been torn out. Heartbreak equals a good story, or at least a compelling one. For the reader, not the characters. Once they found the Author, they could reverse a lot of his revisions. Having that power close at hand...Emma really thought about that for a moment. How much of her life was a revision? She could grow up with her birth parents but would that mean that she didn't end up with Henry? Could the Author write it so that she got both? And make sure that Regina got her promised happy ending too? Could Neal live and Henry have the father he'd always wanted? Could Killian's brother survive and both of them find their way to Storybrooke?

Emma felt Killian touch her arm again. She felt her magic flowing through her, around her hands. She met his gaze and considered the many attractive possibilities.

 _-the end_


End file.
